Skinning Mentors Program! *CLOSED!*

*Update 6/22

WE ARE CURRENTLY NOT ACCEPTING ANY MORE NEW TRAINEES!
We are, however, still accepting mentors

Luckily we've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response but that's just it- we can't address all the people who want to be trainees at the moment. Mentorship is mostly a one-on-one thing, and takes time, so anyone applying after June 22nd, 2012 will have to wait for another time. Sorry, guys!

I'll add to the list everyone who applied before this update, and we will still be finding mentors and getting to the current trainees as we can.

Also, if anyone with a lot of experience in skinning would like to apply to be a mentor, they can still comment here. I'll send them a private message if they are accepted as a mentor.

Thanks, everybody!! :]


ALSO, congrats to kvSketch's trainee DakoTraw for being the first graduate!! Good job, guys! ^_^

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Skinning Guide Compendium forum post added!

Mentors: When any of you choose a trainee, just let me know in the comments below so I can update the list!

When you do, just send them a PM to let them know and get acquainted!

Graduation: When you think a trainee has learned enough to be graduated as a worthy member of the skinning community, let me know, mentors! Graduated trainees can even become mentors if they want! :]

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Hey guys, Bandaid here. I saw Tairan's blog-rant about the skinning community, or the lack thereof, and it moved me to comment. But then I just kept writing and it sort of became its own thing and I figured why not make it into a blog and so here we are! Here's my response to Tairan:



Hey man, you bring up a good point. When I first joined this website, it was because of skins. When I made the first skin contest, it was because of the community. I wanted a way for skinners to be able to join together to participate and create something, to be able to communicate back and forth about skinning and get a discourse going. My contest would have been nothing without skins, without the community.

Seven skin contests and two promotions later, here I am -

and though I am extremely heartened at all the great, wonderful, amazing, creative, skilled, artistic, hard-working, incredible skinners that have joined this site and grown on it as I've watched....I still feel that the sense of community is a little lacking.

Granted, there are many positive things such as skin battles and other interactive projects that skinners and even non-skinners work on together that have really brought people together and excited me and made me happy about the community! However -

without an already existing group of friends who skin and regularly communicate, it's really hard for people to get involved. I encourage all skinners to get together, comment on each other's skins with constructive criticism and praise and thoughts, share good skins you like, and help one-another!

 Instead of complaining about "all the terrible skins on this site", why not mentor those young and untrained skinners, communicate and offer to train them! Maybe we should start a mentor program that people can sign up for if they wanna learn how to skin, get tips, or even just get a friend who understands them and can help with whatever they're going through.

It would be a really awesome thing to bring more people into the skinning community, to make better skinners and in turn make better skins. What do you guys think?


If any of you are interested in this mentor program idea, say so in the comments below, whether you would like to be a mentor or a trainee.

If I get enough mentors who are valuable, good skinners, I can make a forum thread for this and hopefully it can take off and allow many new skinners to meet each other as well as give them a chance to meet more experienced skinners as well! I think we have quite enough of both at this point in time and it could be a great thing!

Anyways, tell me your thoughts on this, guys! I'd love to hear 'em.



Follow-up!
*new update*

I've received a lot of great replies to this guys, thank you very much!! It seems that there's an overwhelming positive response to this "program" of Skinning Mentors! A lot of great, great ideas have been suggested as well. I'll try go over everything that's important.


Skinning Mentors Program
Our goal is to make better skinners who feel more welcomed into PMC's community.

First off, the Skinning Mentors program. Before we go any further, I'd like to put a little definition of mentors and trainees out there:


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Mentors
None of us will ever stop learning - the greatest skinners, even Halucid, know they always have room to improve. A mentor is someone who has experience and has learned a lot for themselves, but wishes to keep on learning and impart some of that knowledge to help others. Being a mentor is just as much of a learning experience as being a trainee.

Trainees
Ever have the frustrating feeling that you can't quite get your skins to look how you want them to look? Don't quite know how to pull off this technique or the other, don't know how in the heck people make pixel hair look so good, lost as to how people make shading actually look like shadows instead of a flat gradient? Don't even know where to get started? Anyone can be a trainee, as long as they're willing and passionate to work at getting better in order to make good-lookin' skins!

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I think it best to start out with one mentor having one or two trainees at most. Later on, if they're willing and think they can handle it, mentors can take on more trainees at once.

Mentors can choose trainees that they want to mentor and vice verse. If there's a mentor without a trainee or trainee without a mentor, I'll pair them up.

When a mentor has chosen a trainee, that mentor will PM the trainee letting him or her know. I recommend that both mentors and trainees have Skype for the easiest form of communication. If you're uncomfortable with Skype, let your trainee or mentor know. If a trainee has any problems with a mentor or vice verse, PM me and let me know first!

Confirmed Mentors:
- Lycandar
- Drumman92 (mentoring DusteroftheCentury)
- Blender (mentoring Swarmer2010)
- DinowCookie (mentoring Iistahnner)
- Powersocke (mentoring ab25)
- Arsenic_shark (mentoring NubNoobNewbMC)
- sashoke (mentoring kooljasper)
- jackanoory
- kvSketch
- Roxthesox (mentoring Pixelated_88)
- the_soup (mentoring BurningSkullz99 and RoyaIChaos)
- LilFella (mentoring ChrisSoWorthy and Blockorz and Doughty)
- Sneeze7 (mentoring TacoDip and devil_in_person)
- DrThresh
- forro34 (mentoring Rouge)
- SakuraKittyy (mentoring hooneybAdgerz, Katzchen Pryde and NatsumiSasuki like a BOSS!)
- darkjames (mentoring Aether_Angel and BoxOfDOG)
- Danori (mentoring LOLDA and Phylax)
- agentpeter (mentoring Tingan)
- JenniferM
- UltraSquishy (mentoring cutemurphy)
- KnobleKnives
- Meyeri (mentoring Smiley13 and AllstarBrose)
- OldEagle92 (mentoring WaffledudeMC1000 and OwlVideoProductions)
- DakoTraw (mentoring Moo2wo)
- Mmm Octopie (mentoring BlastaGF2)
- DoLLaZ (mentoring Swalezee and Valeax)
- peytonisgreat (mentoring Aikyrox)
- Reec3ty (mentoring Girouette)
- Kuvon
- Zan_Murcielago (mentoring McHeadshot)

Confirmed Trainees:
- Wolflover101
- themaster101
- GearFilms
- LightofDeath
- MrtimmayXD
- bradanuva
- Midniterider
- 5cout
- Rock_Star123
- FarGuardian
- xPH03N1Xx86
- Greenbeans51
- Frank West2
- WaffledudeMC1000
- hunterbeebe
- Mikeyjbax
- Sorr
- EpicFaceIsEpic
- Lloyd650
- poisonman91
- redblade
- Themoonwolves20
- snowmunster29501
- Rabbi44402
- Rock_Star123
- coolskins
- WR165
- myhihi1
- kaso_cheese
- chickadeedrum 
- M0R0Z
- Imp x prime
- Theodor488
- Kerrtastic
- GsNiper
- Keegwi
- rapdood
- natters223
- mooshroomisland
- Season
- TheMicroFreak
- BomberMan13371234
- Veldsinkie
- Imbeast11
- pez4481
- iMxAxNo0b
- rstar42
- musicdudez
- Alt231
- peterod1998
- jummbl
- rekrap313
- renirakovic
- yaghend
- frightmare
- ZIWIKMOFO
- MetaAwesome
- Frostgeneral2k
- Metaltooth
- Fire_Water
- pokeman12
- mUSICkAT
- Bathsalts
- CryXCry
- EmeraldRubyHD
- TARLACHRed
- leot1999
- longgirls
- KhaosTaco

Graduated!:
- DakoTraw!


A BIG THANKS TO ALL THE WONDERFUL AND TALENTED MEMBERS WHO OFFERED TO BE MENTORS!! :]
As well as to the trainees, for bravely stepping up to take the challenge of learning! ^_^


Skinning Guides
*New Update!*

How would all you great skinners out there like to make more skinning turotials and help guides and compile them all together into one stickied forum post? It would be a great way to introduce people to skinning and provide a wide range of help all in the same place, easy to access. I know there are a lot of great guides out there already, but they can be hard to find if you don't really know what you're looking for. Let's get 'em all in the same place for easy use!

Also, we should list them by order of difficulty. Very basic newb beginner guides are just as important as guides on advanced techniques! We need all kinds of help at all skill levels.

NEWS!! We now have a forum post where you can post your guides, and they will be added to the big comprehensive list! All creators *WILL* be credited!

See it here!!


Clans and Hubs

Less related but still relevant. Many people are thinking that the different forum post hubs (only a few of which are stickied, but more of which are still very popular and almost over-used) aren't enough for the budding sub-communities of PMC.

Many people would like a better sense of community through a more immersive hub experience, such as clans with possibly their own chat rooms or an additional forum section just for hubs, etc. If you guys have any ideas about this, make a response blog linking back to this one with your ideas and comments! Should they be very exclusive, or not at all (should people sign up for them, or just join, or have to get accepted)? Member-run, run by PMC, or run by PMC-appointed members? There are many questions to discuss!

This would be a great way for the skinning community to develop more as well, having a place specifically for skinners where they can share ideas, comments, and critiques.

Clan/hub Community Idea Blogs:

SuperSodaPops's Response

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